{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1193138"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1193138/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1193138","accessionNumber":"B.659:1-3-2010","objectType":"Construction toy","titles":[{"title":"LEGO System","type":"manufacturer's title"}],"summaryDescription":"LEGO is one of the most popular and enduring toys of our time. It won the Toy Retailers Association's \"Toy of the Year\" award in Britain in 1974, 1975 and 1979, and was voted \"Toy of the Century\" in 2000. \r\n\r\nThe LEGO Group was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, a Danish carpenter turned toymaker. The name LEGO comes from the Danish words \"Leg Godt\" which means \"play well\". The toy is based on traditional wooden building bricks, which have been used by children since the eighteenth century. Wooden blocks were robust and could be used in many different ways. However the scope for large or complex structures was limited because they fell apart easily. The emergence of new technologies, manufacturing techniques and materials, in the mid-twentieth century revolutionised toy design. In 1939, the British toy maker Hilary Page designed a set of colourful plastic bricks as part of his \"Sensible Toy\" range. The bricks used a system of studs and tubes so that they could be locked together. Page released the bricks under the name Interlocking Building Cubes, and went on to introduce Self-Locking Building Bricks in the late 1940s. The LEGO Group followed with Automatic Binding Blocks in 1949. These were a forerunner of the LEGO bricks we recognise today. LEGO bricks were officially launched in 1955 and their stud and tube coupling system was patented in 1958. \r\n\r\nLEGO wasn't immediately popular as many people still preferred metal or wooden toys. However the introduction of the LEGO System in the mid-1950s proved to be very popular, and became central to its success and longevity as a construction toy. The idea behind the LEGO System was that a basic set of bricks could be continually expanded with related, interchangeable parts. This allowed The LEGO Group to develop many other components such as wheels, windows, and the minifigure, so that its customers could create a complete LEGO world.","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"The LEGO Group","id":"C6199"},"association":{"text":"manufacturers","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Children & Childhood","id":"THES48980"},{"text":"Games","id":"THES48947"},{"text":"Construction toys","id":"THES274373"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"YVA","id":"THES48593"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SR017","id":"THES341212"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"013","id":"THES325070"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"013","id":"THES325070"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"construction toy","id":""}],[{"text":"construction toy","id":""}],[{"text":"packaging","id":""}],[{"text":"construction toy","id":""}],[{"text":"leaflet","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Denmark","id":"x28806"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1969-1970","earliest":"1964-01-01","latest":"1973-12-31"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Caroline Egan","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This LEGO set was given to the donor by her older sister as a gift around 1969-1970. She recalls wanting to be like the girl on the leaflet, and imitated her by wearing her own hair in bunches with similar blue ribbons.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Construction toy, injection moulded ABS, LEGO red roof house system, made by The LEGO Group, Denmark, ca. 1969-1970.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Mass produced","id":"THES48863"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"house","id":"AAT5433"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["B.659:1-2010","B.659:2-2010","B.659:3-2010"],"accessionNumberNum":"659","accessionNumberPrefix":"B","accessionYear":2010,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"LEGO set number","id":"THES58160"},"number":"344"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","construction toy [1]","construction toy [2]","construction toy [3]"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-09","recordCreationDate":"2011-02-25","availableToBook":false}}